U.S. patent number 4,985,962 [Application Number 07/550,603] was granted by the patent office on 1991-01-22 for combination latch-hinge device.
This patent grant is currently assigned to AMP Incorporated. Invention is credited to Ronald M. Weber.
United States Patent |
4,985,962 |
Weber |
January 22, 1991 |
Combination latch-hinge device
Abstract
A device (36) capable of functioning both as a latch and a hinge
is disclosed. The device (36) includes a latch section (16) mounted
on the housing (12) of an enclosure (10) and includes a groove (88)
and a movable latch member (40) extending over the groove (88). The
device (36) further includes a hinge section (30) mounted on the
cover (14) and includes a rod (32) which is received in the groove
(88) and rotatably retained therein by the latch member (40).
Inventors: |
Weber; Ronald M. (Lebanon,
PA) |
Assignee: |
AMP Incorporated (Harrisburg,
PA)
|
Family
ID: |
24197855 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/550,603 |
Filed: |
July 10, 1990 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
16/232; 16/231;
292/87; 292/DIG.38 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E05D
15/505 (20130101); E05D 15/502 (20130101); Y10S
292/38 (20130101); Y10T 292/0902 (20150401); Y10T
16/528 (20150115); Y10T 16/5285 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
E05D
15/48 (20060101); E05D 15/50 (20060101); E05D
015/50 () |
Field of
Search: |
;16/231,232 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Seidel; Richard K.
Assistant Examiner: Hong; Patty E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Osborne; Allan B.
Claims
I claim:
1. A device capable of functioning either as a latch or as a hinge
for use on enclosures having a housing and a cover so that the
cover may be rotatably opened from either of two opposite sides of
the housing, said device comprising:
latch sections mounted on two opposite sides of a housing, said
sections including first means and cooperating latching means
wherein said first means include grooved rails parallel to and
spaced outwardly from respective sides by support arms and said
latching means include latching members having a leg with a lip
thereon which extends over respective said grooved rails, said leg
being between said rail and respective said sides and movable
theretowards to remove said lip from over said grooved rail;
and
hinge sections mounted on two opposite sides of the cover in
registration with said latch sections when the cover closes over
the housing, said hinge sections having a rod spaced outwardly from
and in parallel relation to respective sides for being received in
said grooves and removably retained therein by said latching
member.
2. The device of claim 1 wherein said latching means includes a
U-shaped member with a first leg being retained by the housing and
a second leg extending between the housing and said first means and
having an outwardly projecting lip thereon which extends over at
least a portion of said groove, said second leg being movable
towards said housing to remove said lip from over said groove.
3. The device of claim 2 wherein the respective sides include slots
for receiving and retaining said first legs.
4. A device capable of functioning either as a latch or as a hinge
for use on enclosures having a housing and a cover so that the
cover may be rotatably opened from either of two opposite sides of
the housing, said device comprising:
latch sections mounted on two opposite sides of either the housing
or the cover and including pairs of spaced apart arms projecting
normally outwardly from respective sides, said arms being provided
with openings therethrough with said openings being parallel to the
sides; and
hinge sections mounted on two opposite sides of either the housing
or the cover not having said latch sections, said hinge sections
being in registration with said latch sections when the cover
closes over the housing, said hinge section including cylindrical
rods slidably mounted on and in parallel relation to the respective
sides and adapted to slide into said openings.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention disclosed herein relates to a combination latch-hinge
device so that a cover of an enclosure may be opened from either
one of two opposite sides.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
On typical enclosures used in the telecommunication industry
traditional hinging devices permit the cover to be opened from one
side only. When such an enclosure is being installed on a pole or
elsewhere, orientation thereof is extremely important but
unfortunately often overlooked. Accessibility then may be limited
almost to the extent that a lineman's ability to do a proper job on
the devices within the enclosure suffers. Accordingly it is now
proposed to provide an enclosure having a cover mounted thereon
with combination latch-hinge devices such that the cover may be
opened from either side thereof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, a combination latch-hinge device is
provided which includes a latch section mounted on opposite sides
of the housing of an enclosure and a hinge section mounted on
opposite sides of the cover of the enclosure. The latch section
includes grooves which are spaced out from and is parallel to the
sides or the housing and a latch which removably extends over a
portion of the groove. The cooperating hinge section includes a rod
which is spaced out from and is parallel to the sides of the cover.
The rod is received in the groove and is rotatably retained therein
by the latch.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views of an enclosure having a cover
rotatably attached to a housing by a combination latch-hinge device
constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the latch section of the
device;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the latching member of the latch
section;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the latch structure on the
housing;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the closed enclosure showing
the device on two opposite sides thereof;
FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view showing the device mounted
on the enclosure;
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the enclosure showing the cover
in an open position; and
FIG. 9 and 10 are perspective views of an alternate embodiment of
the combination latch-hinge device.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, enclosure 10 includes housing 12 and
cover 14. Both components are preferably molded from a suitable
plastics material such as a polycarbonate and include gasket or
other means for moisture-proofing the interior of a closed
enclosure 10.
Housing 12 includes latch section 16 of the present invention on
opposing side walls 18, 20. As shown, two sections 16 are
positioned on each side wall 18, 20 near respective end walls 22,
24.
Cover 14 carries on both lateral edges 26, 28 hinge sections 30
which include rod. 32, which is parallel to edges 26, 28 and
support arms 34 which space rod 32 outwardly from edges 26, 28.
Hinge sections 30 are spaced on respective edges 26, 28 to
cooperate with latch sections 16 to form latch-hinge devices 36 of
the present invention.
FIG. 3 shows the details of latch section 16. Included is a
U-shaped member 40 and cooperating structure 42 on sidewalls 18,
20. As seen more clearly in FIG. 4, member 40 includes legs 44, 46
which are joined at one end by curved bight 48 and which diverge
slightly therefrom. First leg 44 thickens towards free end 50 where
it is trifurcated to provide a wide finger 52 located between, a
pair of posts 54. As shown in FIG. 3, finger 52 is reduced in
thickness relative to posts 54 and the rest of first leg 44 to
provide flexibility. Further, the reduced thickness of finger 52
provides an upwardly facing shoulder 56. A lateral lip 58,
projecting outwardly (away from second leg 46) from free end 60 of
finger 52, provides a downwardly facing shoulder 62.
Second leg 46 is provided, at its free end 64, with an outwardly
(away from first leg 44) projecting lip 66 which includes an
upwardly facing beveled surface 67 and a downwardly facing beveled
portion 68. With reference particularly to FIG. 5, each cooperating
structure 42 includes a slot 70 which is defined by inside surfaces
72 of respective sidewalls 18, 20 and a U-shaped partition 74
attached to inside surfaces 72 as shown in FIG. 1. Surfaces 76 of
partitions 74 which face slot 70 include an upwardly facing
shoulder 78 just below upper edge 80. A downwardly facing shoulder
82 is provided on inside surfaces 72 just above lower edge 84.
Structure 42 further includes a U-shaped rail 86 which provides a
laterally and upwardly open groove 88. Rail 86, which parallels
sidewalls 18, 20, is supported at each end by support arms 90 which
project normally outwardly from respective sidewalls 18, 20.
Returning to FIG. 3, U-shaped member 40 is attached to cooperating
structure 42 by first leg 44 being inserted into slot 70 and second
leg 46 positioned between respective sidewall 18, 20 and rail 86.
Member 40 is retained within structure 42 by cooperation between
shoulders 62, 56 on first leg 44 and shoulders 78, 82 on surfaces
76, 72 respectively. As shown, lip 66 on second leg 46 projects
over groove 88 in rail 86.
FIG. 6 shows cover 14 secured to housing 12 to form enclosure 10.
Rods 32 of the cover's hinge sections 30 are received in grooves 88
in rails 86 of latch sections 16 and are retained therein by lips
66 on second legs 46 of U-shaped members 40.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of one latch-hinge device 36 showing
more clearly the relation of the several components in the closed
and latched position.
In closing cover 14, lips 66 can be cammed out of the way by rods
32 riding down the upwardly facing beveled surface 67.
Alternatively lips 66 can be moved out of the way by pressing
resilient second leg 46 in towards respective sidewalls 18, 20.
Cover 14 is opened by simply pressing in on resilient second legs
46 on either side of enclosure 10. FIG. 8 shows cover 14 pivoted
open around the hinge-latch devices 36 on side 18 of housing 12.
The drawing also shows, in phantom, cover 14 opened around
hinge-latch devices 36 on side 20 of housing 12.
An alternative embodiment (not shown) of member 40 includes placing
projecting lip 66 on the inside surface of second leg 46 and
positioning leg 46 on the outside of rail 86.
FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate another embodiment of the present
invention. Latch-hinge device 100 includes hinge section 102 and
latch section 104.
Hinge section 102 includes rods 106 which are attached to plate
108. Plate 108 in turn is slidingly attached to respective sides
26, 28 of cover 14 by pins 110 which pass through elongated grooves
112 in plate 108.
Housing 12 carries latch section 104 which includes a pair of
spaced apart arms 116 and a pair of spaced apart fingers 118
located between arms 116. Arms 116 are provided with U-shaped slots
120 adjacent free ends 122 and which are open away from cover 14.
Fingers 118 include arcuate surfaces 124 which face towards cover
14 and are spaced from the base 126 of slots 120 by the diameter of
rod 106.
To latch housing 12 to cover 14 hinge section 102 is moved so that
rods 106 enter both slots 120 on respective latch sections 104. As
shown in FIG. 10, rods 106 are positioned between bases 126 on one
side and arcuate surfaces 124 on an opposite side. Housing 12
cannot fly open at that side but can rotate about rods 106.
As can be discerned, a combination latch-hinge device for use on
enclosures having a housing and a cover has been disclosed. In one
embodiment, the latch section of the device includes a U-shaped
member on the housing and which has a resilient leg with an
outwardly projecting lip which extends over a groove. The hinge
section of the device includes a rod attached to the cover and
which is received in the groove. The lip extends over the rod to
retain the cover in a closed position but also cooperates with the
rod so that the cover can be rotated thereabout. Pressing in on the
resilient leg releases the rod from the groove so that the cover
can be opened.
* * * * *